The invention pertains to the general field of vehicle auxiliary lamps and more particularly to a kit which allows auxiliary lamps to be installed and operated in either a manual mode or an automatic mode.
Arguably, the most common form of transportation is the motor vehicle, and in most developed countries a personal car or truck is the most common motor vehicle. Cars and/or trucks (hereinafter, xe2x80x9cvehiclesxe2x80x9d), are used for transportation to and from work, for reaction, and many other instances when people need to travel.
As vehicles have become more prevalent there has been discovered a need to consistently improve the safety characteristics and to add amenities that add comfort and/or convenience to driving. From the first designs ever considered for vehicles there was seen the need for integral illumination. For any car that was to be driven during non-daylight hours there had to be a means for lighting the road ahead of the car. As a result of this need the obvious addition of headlamps were added to all car designs.
As car designs have evolved, so have headlamps designs. While a typical, dual-headlamp system, with one lamp mounted on each respective side of the front of the car, functions adequately, there has been seen a need for further development. This need was especially noticeable when a car was being driven in inclement weather. During clear nights normal headlamps function fine, and for more visibility most headlamps are available with high and low beams. Unfortunately, even high beams do not always provide satisfactory illumination.
To remedy this problem auxiliary lamps were made available for use on cards. Those auxiliary lamps, which include fog lamps, are designed to provide additional illumination during low-visibility, such as in heavy fog. Many current car manufacturers now provide auxiliary lamps as standard equipment on their new vehicle models. Unfortunately, older vehicles only have the standard two headlamp system.
There are many companies that offer aftermarket auxiliary lamps but, as is most typical, these lamps are not designed to offer any other improvements than increased illumination, while the benefits of additional features such as remote and automatic operation of the auxiliary lamps could be of great assistance to a driver.
A search of the prior art did not disclose any patents that read directly on the claims of the instant invention, however the following U.S. patents are considered related:
The 5,473,515 patent discloses a photo-coupled control apparatus for a vehicle auxiliary lighting system that comprises a combination of a photo coupling set. The set includes a control light emitter assembly and a control light sensor assembly. The control light emitter assembly is attached to the interior surface of the windshield of the vehicle, and has a light emitting device for emitting light signals. The control light sensor assembly is attached to the exterior surface of the windshield at a location opposite the location of the control light emitter assembly, and has a light sensing device for receiving the light signals emitted by the light emitting device of the control light emitter assembly. A control module is coupled to the control light sensor assembly, the battery of the vehicle, and the lamps of the auxiliary lighting systems. When the switch is turned on, the light emitting device of the control light emitter assembly emits the light signals so as to be received by the light sensing deice of the control light sensor assembly. The control light sensor assembly issues a control signal to the control module upon receiving the light signals, whereby the control module providing electric power of the battery to the lamps of the auxiliary lighting system.
The 5,195,813 patent discloses one or more auxiliary lighting systems that are attached to the exterior of a motor vehicle. A control module, located in the engine compartment and connected to the auxiliary lighting system(s) and vehicle, transmits a simple pulse or an encoded signal, depending upon the number of auxiliary lighting systems used. The module includes a receiver and a sensor for detecting the operation of the vehicle""s original equipment lighting. Logic within the module turns on the auxiliary lighting upon request in accordance with predetermined conditions, such as low beams but not high beams being turned on.
The 5,193,894 patent discloses an apparatus for controlling the light-range of headlamps of a motor vehicle. The apparatus includes two headlight orientation adjusting devices, at least one electro-optic sensor that detects actual values of light intensities of light reflected from an illuminated portion of the road, and an analyzer/control unit connected to the at least one electro-optic sensor and the adjusting devices to control the adjusting devices and the headlight orientation according to the sensor signal. To maintain the light-range of the headlamps, the analyzer/control unit contains a memory device for storing data including set values of the light intensities for a desired headlight orientation and for storing other data including actual values of the reflected light intensities for actual headlight orientations.
The 5,036,437 patent discloses a vehicle lamp control sensor for switching a lamp on or off, depending on ambient levels. The device employs a silicon photo detector in combination with a filter chosen to give the detector a response curve that peaks at about 550 nanometers. The photo detectors transmits an electrical signal in response to the ambient light and the electrical signal is sensed by a lamp switching circuit to switch the vehicle lamp at predetermined light levels. The vehicle lamp control sensor will thus respond to changes in the ambient light levels in a manner which matches the perceived light levels of a human observer.
The vehicle auxiliary lamps installation kit is designed to be operated in combination with a vehicle which includes an engine, an alternator and a battery. The kit allows the lamps, which can consist of a fog lamps or other type of secondary vehicle lamps, to be manually turned on with the vehicle""s engine not running or to be turned on automatically when the vehicle""s engine is running with the alternator operating. In its most basic design, the vehicle auxiliary lamps installation kit consists of:
a) at least one auxiliary lamp, and
b) Circuit means for producing a turn lamps ON code or a turn lamps OFF code, and subsequently determining if a turn lamps ON or OFF code has been received for further processing. If a turn lamps ON code is received, a 12 VDC lamps power signal is produced that is applied to the at least one auxiliary lamp which causes the lamp to illuminate.
The manual mode of operation is disclosed in two designs. In both designs a remote transmitter is used to activate the kit. The transmitter is battery powered and is similar to the type used for activating and deactivating standard vehicle alarms and for locking/unlocking vehicle doors.
In the first manual design the transmitter produces a unique and encrypted security code corresponding to either a lamps ON command or a lamps OFF command. The code is applied to a receiver from where the encrypted coded signal is passed to a decoder circuit. The decoder circuit decodes and determines if the encrypted coded signal corresponds to a turn lamps ON code or a turn lamps OFF code. The determined code is then applied to a logic control circuit wherein if the turn lamps ON code is received the logic control circuit energizes a power relay which controls a 12 VDC lamps power signal that when applied to the lamps causes them to illuminate.
In the second manual mode design the receiver includes further circuits which allows the receiver to directly produce a turn lamps ON code or a turn lamps OFF code. The produced on or off code is applied to the logic control circuit thus, eliminating the need for the decoder circuit.
The automatic mode of operation is also disclosed in two designs. In both designs the auxiliary lamps will illuminate only when the vehicle""s engine is running with the alternator operating.
In the first automatic design a wave detector is used having means for determining if the vehicle""s engine is running by detecting a ripple voltage which is produced by the alternator. If the engine is running the wave detector produces a turn lamps ON code which is applied to a logic circuit. The logic circuit produces a turn laps ON code which is applied to a logic control circuit wherefrom a 12 VDC lamps power signal is produced that when applied to the lamp causes them to illuminate.
The second automatic design is comprised of the same elements as the first automatic design but further includes a photo sensor circuit and an amplifier. The photo sensor produces a resistance signal having a value that is equivalent to a value of the applied ambient lamp. The resistance signal is applied to the amplifier which converts the resistance signal to a turn lamps ON or a turn lamps OFF code. When the ambient lamp level drops below a pre-determined level the amplifier produces a turn lamps ON code which is processed as previously discussed for the first automated mode. In this second automatic mode both the coded signals from the logic circuit and the amplifier must be received by the logic control circuit before the logic control circuit can produce the 12 VDC lamps power signal that turns on the lamps.
In view of the above disclosure it is the primary object of the invention to produce a vehicle auxiliary lamps installation kit that can be designed to be operated manually or automatically.
In addition to the primary object of the invention it is also an object of the invention to produce a vehicle auxiliary lamps installation kit that:
can be designed to operate various types of auxiliary vehicle lamps,
is easily and conveniently installed with minimum effort within the confines of the engine compartment,
can be installed without having to drill any holes in the vehicle fire wall or dash board, and
can be designed with discreet components or by utilizing an Application Specific Integrated circuit (ASIC), and
is cost effective from both manufacturing and consumer points of view.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description of the preferred embodiment and the appended claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.